3. Thoroughly Integrate Into This World

Walking through the courtyard, the first thing Zoro saw was a huge Sakura tree.

After passing the Sakura tree, he sees a door leading to a room.

There was a row of black barbell plates in the open space outside the door, and the barbell plates were lined up from big to small. The smallest was as big as a basin, while the largest was three or four times as tall as him.

Passing through the barbells in front of him, he sees Kuina waving an iron rod while sweating profusely. A barbell plate about her height hung at the front end of the iron rod.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! . . . "

The weight of the barbell can be felt from her thin arm.

Looking inside, he can see Sorata topless, with his hands on the ground, doing vertical push-ups.

Above his feet is a barbell with barbell plates on both sides.

"Hey! If that's how you train, it's nothing special,"

Watching the training of the two, Zoro walked forward confidently.

"What, that's it! Isn't this normal training?"

If he can become stronger this way, he will definitely be able to defeat Kuina in no time.

But when he approached about five meters away from Sorata, he suddenly seemed to have fallen into the deep sea, and there was endless pressure in all directions.

Especially on the back, it seemed that there was a heavy burden all of a sudden, and it was trying to press him down bit by bit.

"With this little pressure, how can it be possible to stump me."

He roared furiously in his heart, his eyes widened, and a streak of red appeared in his eyeballs.

He stared up at Kuina closely, clenched his teeth, his legs trembling, and slowly moved forward step by step.

It took him about ten minutes to cover the few meters.

Kuina glanced at Zoro indifferently and continued to practice swinging the sword.

Sorata had said to her.

"In this world, although women's physique is not as good as that of men, the key to victory does not necessarily depend on strength. Sometimes, skills and speed are also the key to victory. You just need to kill the enemy before your physical strength is exhausted." 

Thinking of this, she couldn't help speeding up the movement of swinging the sword a little.

Zoro was deeply stimulated by Kuina's glance. He raised his head and stared at Kuina with a fighting spirit.

"I must surpass her."

Although I don't know what's going on here, if I can train in this environment, I should be able to become stronger soon!

Relaxing and taking a deep breath, he slowly squatted down and did push-ups with his hands on the ground.

Since it is difficult to stand up, it is also necessary to practice lying down.

Sorata looked at Zoro, who had a hideous face due to excessive force and could only say that this amazing willpower was worthy of Zoro.

If ordinary people entered his spatial domain, let alone training, I'm afraid they would have no hope of even lying on their stomachs. They could only lie flat.

This space is his space domain, and he can now control the domain to extend a radius of five meters.

Within this space range, the more layers that extend outward, the stronger the control. It can compress the space to achieve pressurization, and of course, it can also depressurize to fly.

...

"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, ten thousand."

Sorata silently count the numbers in his heart and stopped.

boom--!

He bent his feet slightly, pushed up, and threw the barbell aside, splashing dust all over the floor.

Then he used his hands hard, jumped upside down, and landed firmly next to the barbell next to him.

Looking at Zoro, who had already fainted from exhaustion, he picked up the towel on the barbell plate, wiped his face, and put away the field.

Kuina, who was resting next to her with her eyes closed, suddenly felt light all over, knowing that Sorata had finished training.

She quickly picked up the bamboo swords on her legs, stood up, and spoke to Sorata.

"Sorata, let's start today's duel!"

"Wait, let's wake up Zoro first."

Zoro's breathing gradually calmed down as the field dissipated.

But judging by his appearance, he may not be able to wake up for the time being, so Sorata has to help.

Sorata hung the towel around his neck casually, walked to Zoro, bent down and grabbed the clothes at the back of his neck, and lifted him like a sleepy green-haired cat.

Then he turned around and walked towards the creek not far away.

Kuina looked at the direction Sorata was going and already knew what he would do.

She trotted to keep up.

"Sorata, he will definitely challenge you later."

"No, I'll tell him you did it."

Sorata turned to look at Kuina and joked deliberately.

"It doesn't matter anyway, he can't beat me."

Kuina said confidently as he glanced at Zoro's face.

Of course, she also has reasons for her self-confidence. In the entire Shimotsuki Village, her swordsmanship has been recognized by everyone except her father.

"You can't underestimate Zoro. His willpower and determination will never lose to you."

"After getting along today, I can certainly feel his determination and willpower like a beast."

Kuina stared at Sorata and said firmly: "I! But I promise you that I am determined to become the strongest female swordsman in the world. Only in this way can I always be by your side!"

After hearing Kuina's words, Sorata couldn't help being taken aback.

For so many years, Master Koshiro and Kuina have taken care of him like family and gradually erased his confusion, hesitation, and fear.

This kind of trust and bond is so clear at this moment.

"Yeah! This is not the anime world. This is a living world with flesh and blood, ideals, and dreams."

He had been trying to integrate into this world in the past, but after all, he felt a little bit worse. Now he knows the difference is the bondage.

Only in this world is there a bond, a home, and a spiritual belonging.

Only then can he fully integrate into this world. Otherwise, he will always be a lonely boy.

At this moment, he clearly felt that there was a kind of power gushing from the bottom of his heart, breaking through the realm that he had always wanted to enter but could not enter.

He closed his eyes gently, and his spirit radiated outwards. At this moment, he could feel that the whole world seemed to come alive.

Creeks, woods, birdsong, ocean, clouds, sunshine, everything is so vivid.

"Is this the realm where I could really be called a real swordsman?"

"When one wants to cut something, their sword will even cut the thickest of steel. But when they do not want to cut something, their sword will not cut even the thinnest of papers "

"Hahahaha...!"

This kind of epiphany made him laugh out loud involuntarily, and the sound resounded through the entire back mountain, startling the birds all over the mountain.

His emotions infected Kuina next to her, and she looked at Sorata with a gentle smile on her face.

Although she didn't know why Sorata had suddenly laughed, she could feel Sorata's unprecedented happiness from the laughter. This kind of happiness had never been seen in Sorata before.

Koshiro, who was meditating on the grass mat in the front yard of the dojo, heard the laughter from the backyard, and his slightly squinted eyes suddenly widened a little.

"The child seems to have finally untied the knot in his heart,"

He nodded with a smile on his lips.

Then he pondered for a while, stood up, and walked outside.

"It looks like this kid will go to sea in a few years, so I have to prepare a gift for him."

Sorata stopped laughing, looked at the stream in front of him, swung his right hand back, and then threw it forward vigorously, throwing Zoro out of his hand.

"Let's go."

Zoro drew a not so graceful arc in the air, "Plop!" and fell into the water.

As soon as he fell into the water Zoro woke up, thrashing and roaring loudly. "Who, who threw me into the water? Cough cough! Cough cough!!"

Seeing Zoro flopping around, Sorata turned his head and smiled at Kuina: "Look at him. Doesn't he look like a dog in the water."

"Hahahaha...!"

Kuina rested her hands on Sorata's right shoulder without making a sound, but anyone seeing her slightly squinted eyes and her trembling shoulders could tell she's holding back her laughter.

"Damn it! You wait for me."

Zoro glared angrily at the two on the shore.

Sorata straightened up and looked at Kuina, then turned to look at Zoro with a smile on his face, "Okay, come up and continue training!" After speaking, he turned and walked to the training ground with Kuina.

Looking at the two backs going away, Zoro slapped the water vigorously with both hands, and the water splashed everywhere. He vented for a while before walking towards the shore.

"Hey! Wait for me."

The sound floated far away.